Deaf Awareness Week 2026

Take action

We’re raising awareness about deafness and how it impacts millions of people across the UK. Here’s how you can directly help to remove barriers and transform a deaf person’s life.

A young girl sat on her bed with a pile of books, happily reading to a labrador

What is Deaf Awareness Week?

Deaf Awareness Week is an annual UK event. It aims to raise awareness of deafness, hearing loss and the barriers deaf people face, while promoting inclusion, accessibility and understanding.

It is a chance to boost awareness and understanding, challenge assumptions, encourage inclusive communication and highlight the daily experiences of people with hearing loss. Here’s how you can get involved.

Download our free communications guide

You can make life easier for deaf people and people with hearing loss through your every day actions. Download our free guide on how to communicate with people who are deaf or have hearing loss. It includes simple tips and actions you can take at work or in social situations.

For example:

  • If possible move to a quieter place with less background noise.
  • Check how someone prefers to be communicated with, don’t assume you know.
  • Speak normally – shouting or speaking slowly will make lipreading harder. 
Free communications guide

Sarah's story

“I was born profoundly deaf and have no hearing in both ears. It has impacted me massively. I’ve never felt safe wherever I was, even in my own home as I can't hear sounds…I have felt ignored. I always felt so excluded when with people. I felt like I am not important, like I am invisible. People talk to my mum or dad, but not to me. Being deaf is so exhausting. This all changed when I was matched with Albert, my hearing dog."

Many deaf people face the types of challenges Sarah describes. Download our communication guide and help everyone live well with hearing loss.

Read Sarah's story
A young woman and light coloured dog are sitting on grass. The woman is smiling and hugging the dog.

About deafness

Deafness is often invisible but its impact isn’t. 

As Sarah shows, navigating everyday life with hearing loss means having to face constant barriers to communication. It can feel exhausting and isolating which can have a devasting impact on a person’s mental health and overall wellbeing.

Peter told us: “It became very frustrating. I would just agree with people although I didn’t know what they were saying, because it was easier. I couldn’t hear the doorbell, so I’d miss visitors. I couldn’t hear the TV.”  - Peter’s story.

1 in 3 people experience deafness, hearing loss or tinnitus in the UK. That means there are millions of people facing these barriers every day. But they don’t have to face them alone. 
 

What people with hearing loss tell us

Every day we connect with people of different ages and backgrounds with hearing loss. They tell us about the challenges they face as well as the solutions which help. 

Here are some of the most common issues: 

  • A lack of awareness or understanding from other people
  • Difficulty following conversations or feeling excluded in social situations
  • Communication challenges in workplaces, social settings or in public places like shops or at the doctors
  • Practical and emotional challenges of missing important sounds in the home or public places, such as the doorbell, alarm clock, smoke alarm, announcements or a baby’s cry
  • Fatigue from having to constantly concentrate harder to communicate
  • Feelings of isolation and loneliness due to constant communication challenges

You can help. Because when barriers are removed, the world opens up for people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Connection to others is restored, confidence grows, and no one has to feel isolated or alone. 

“I feel safe with Alfie in the house, knowing he will alert me if the smoke alarms went off. He gives me so much confidence. I get out and about because of him.” 

- Lisa, partnered with hearing dog Alfie.

Our highly-skilled hearing dogs, like Alfie, range of practical and emotional support services, and spreading the word helps break down barriers to connection, confidence and companionship experienced by people with hearing loss. Together we can help people live well with hearing loss. 

Here’s how you can directly help to remove barriers and transform a deaf person’s life.

Worried about your hearing?

If you or someone close to you has concerns about hearing loss, take a look at our hearing loss information pages or contact our hearing loss helpdesk.